Little child, runnin' wild
Watch a while, you'll see he never smiles
Broken home, father gone
Mama tired, so he's all alone

Kind of sad, kind of mad
Ghetto child, thinkin' he's been had
In the back of his mind he's sayin'

Didn't have to be here
You didn't have to love for me
While I was just a nothin' child
Why couldn't they just let me be
Let me be, let me be, let me be

One room shack on the alley back
Control I'm told, from across the track
Where is the mayor who'll make all things fair?
He lives outside, our polluted air

And I didn't have to be here
You didn't have to love for me
While I was just a nothin' child
Why couldn't they just let me be
Let me be, let me be, let me be

I got a jones, runnin' through ma' bones
I'm sorry son, all your money's gone
Painful rip in my upper hip
I guess it's time to take another trip

Don't care now what nobody say
I got to take the pain away
It's gettin' worser day by day
And all my life has been this way

Can't reason with the pusherman
Finance is all that he understands
You junkie, mama cried, you know
Would rip her, but I love her so
Love her so, now